Spectrum symptoms and conditions

I am a 54 year old male who started taking Lipitor about 4 years ago. It seemed OK at first, but over the next several years I began to have increasing amounts of joint pain after exercise. Nor muscle pain, joint pain. And it seemed to be a result of exercise. By the time I stopped it, I was hurting after everything, not just exercise. I felt better within the first two weeks, but it took about 4 months for me to be able to exercise vigorously again. Over the years I seemed to have forgotten how much vitality I used to have. I am a physician, and because of the long lag time until I felt better, I wondered whether improvement might have related to other factors, so after about 5 months I decided to restart Lipitor. It surprised me that after just one dose, I got back all of the joint pain and fatigue when I was at my worst on Lipitor. I was really hurting. Needless to say, I didn't take any more.

Coincidentally, a physician friend of mine who had statin induced polyneuropathy had a similar experience. After his symptoms went away he found that after only one dose the entire polyneuropathy came back.

Stopping and restarting the drug is a way to test the correlation between the drug and the side effect. For such a large spectrum of side effects to recur after only a single dose, it argues that the problems that my friend and I had was due to some sort of immune memory response. I have not seen this in the medical literature.

I am off it now for about 8 months and am able to comfortably play singles tennis and jog - much more energy (and I took 200 mg of CoQ10 a day with the Lipitor).

I get a slight, focused ache in the right side of my head just above and between my temple and ear. I have noticed this consistently each time I take one capsule week or several weeks in between one 1000 mg Spectrum brand capsule. it is most annoying and disconcerting.

- Mark

Well ladies, I seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum. I have had but one period in 17 months (my daughter is 18 months) and have experienced lowered libido. I have lower back pain, abdominal pain on occasion and feel moody all the time, similar to the way I felt pregnant. I am planning on having Mirena removed asap. I am sure this makes me unpopular, but I like to bleed. It reminds me I am a woman!

Well here's yet another unsatisfied customer. I am so relieved to see I'm not alone but so angry and my doctors for not doing some simple research like this on behalf of their patients, so I could've been more adequately warned about the side effects of this product on some women. Basically, if you are sensitive to hormonal changes, which I am, then this product will really mess with your body. These hormonal changes can affect, among other things, changes in the ph level of your vagina which can lead to both bacterial and fungal vaginitis. Did anyone tell you that? Have you had more of those infections while on this and think you were crazy? You weren't. Symptoms of a bacterial infection include a thin, watery discharge and a fishy smell. Did you think you smelled different while on this but figured there's no way there could be a connection to Mirena? There is. Looking back now, how could I have trusted a pamphlet from the maker of the product? Obviously they want you to buy it. That was my stupidity. But how could my doctor trust the pamphlet? Why do they assume the hormone level is too small to make an impact when there are thousands of women having them removed and citing the exact same reactions. Demand that you be taken seriously as a women and a patient. Do not be bullied nor belittled by your doctor into thinking you must be wrong and a corporate drug company is right. Get it out.

I also am rare and love this form of birth control. It reduced my anxiety giving me a more stabilized feel, no depression, took away cramps and pms cravings and symptoms (which I had a spectrum of) all my acne is GONE, and I've gained maybe just a few pounds but all these benefits for me have been completely worth it. I have been very happy with it and will probably not go off of it until I want to have kids:) My sex drive has decreased only a little but it was high before so in a way it's kind of nice. I recommend this pil for anyone with an abundance of testosterone, like I had.

I had a Kenalog injection on Monday, July 23 which was supposed to alleviate pain in my right shoulder due to a torn rotator cuff. Since receiving the shot, my arm has gotten so much sorer and I am unable to use it, even like I was using it before. The pain keeps getting worse; it's only been two days. I will wait and see what other effect it might have on my body.

i started taking seroquel about 2 years ago, and with being steadily increased in the dosage i have gaine 100 pounds, and i cannot lose anything. I have tried every diet out there, besides surgery. I am afraid to go off them because i have insomnia and deppression, and anxiety soo bad that i can never sleep. and now in reading other persons' effects i am starting to wonder if all my other problems are an affect of this medicine. I take 800 mg. a night just so i can sleep 7-8 hours. How crazy is that??? i am so afraid...

I've been through the whole spectrum of side effects from Effexor and had my life nearly ruined.
13 weeks of withdrawal in the summer 2003. Couldn't work, or anything else for that matter. I today am still not totally myself. The last emotion I frequently read about is anger.I have read about thousands who are ready to scream at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for this drug they've made. They've conveniently failed to warn us about the hell we will go thruogh if we decide to stop taking it. I found out that I did not need this drug in the first place, it was a mistake. I have set up a web site on my own time and it's just NOT a commercial site.There's a lot of information there if you want to get mad with me, it's dougtyler.com ,go to the Effexor link at the bottom.
Take care all and thanks.

I have been taking alprazolam for about two years and have never had any side effects other than a mild headache, and am not commpletly comvinced it was the medication that caused it!!! I know for a fact it has helped me cope with the terrible effects of cronic pain,...dicouragement (what my doctor calls depression) on one end of the spectrum and discouragement (what my doctor calls anxiety)...One comes from my not being able to do the things i used to do (physically) and the other end of the spectrum, having the tendancy to get upset over that fact...

THANK GOD FOR DOCTORS
AND THE MEDICATIONS
HE REVEALS TO THEM FOR
OUR INFIRMITIES !!!